Becoming Jayne Cobb
by alphadine
Summary: The early years of Jayne Cobb and how he became the man he is.


**Titel : Becoming Jayne Cobb**

**Author:** alphadine **  
****Fandom:** Firefly **  
****Pairing:** Jayne Cobb/ OC **  
****Rating:** violence, language, smut at some point = **"M" ****  
****Disclaimer:** Not mine, what a surprise **  
****Summary: **How Jayne Cobb became the man he is

A/N: My sincerest thanks to **baschashe** for her patient guidence, help and encouragement as beta. Couldn't have done it without you, lass :)  
If there are still mistakes, there are mine and mine alone.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Stop that little rat! Sonofabitch"

Heavy boots pounded through the passenger-deck of the Inter-Moon-Ferry _"Kashmir"_ as two employees of the shipping company chased a lanky teenage boy through the deck.

"Damned stowaway!"

The boy scurried his way through the other passengers and ducked and dodged the halfhearted attempts of the few that actually tried to stop and catch him while he scolded himself. If he had stayed hidden for only a few more hours, they'd have been planet side again and he probably would have made it out of the ferry without being noticed. But the hunger had become too fierce. He had always been so hungry these last months. His mother had teasingly called him a glutton and said, it had something to do with him growing so fast, but he hadn't cared for the reasons as long as he'd gotten something to eat.

And now, after almost three days confined to hiding in the nooks and crannies of the ship, mere scraps of unmentionable food and a few sips of water had been all he could scrounge. The loud growl of his stomach would have given away his position at some point anyway, so he came out of hiding to mingle with the passengers and look for something to eat.

He'd been able to snatch an apple from an elderly woman who was carrying a whole basket filled with fruit and he knew she probably wouldn't miss it. In fact he figured he could have swiped some more off the old bint, if he had time. He also managed to pinch an MRE-pack from a guy who definitely wasn't military. The _hun dan_ had probably stolen that ration himself somewhere.

Happy about his catch, the boy had strolled through the deck unaware of the two men that were checking the passenger-lists again. Hadn't notice them until one had grabbed his arm, bellowing: "Name?"

The kid was stunned.

"Your name, boy?" He'd been asked again and his mind had reeled. He'd opened his mouth for some answer but before he could have uttered a word, the man he'd stolen the MRE-pack from had noticed his loss and started to bluster.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the boy had yanked his arm free from the guard's grip, turned tail and escaped. By making some detours and changing decks several times he managed to get rid of the guards and now felt safe enough to wander back to his hiding place, contently munching the stolen apple with the MRE-pack safely tucked away under his shirt for later.

'Quick as _a gãisì de_ rabbit!'

Memories of his mother crossed his mind, as she was standing on the porch and laughing so hard at his proud face, when he'd managed to catch a piglet that had escaped from the gates the other day.

He sighed deeply; those times were past and gone. Too much had happened since.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"_Where's the useless_ dineng de ren _gotten to this time? I told him to muck out the stables, but I don't see it bein' done!"_

_The boy often needed to get away from the irate and gratuitous outbursts of his father, so he took a lot of strolls around the farm, keeping his distance. __Though now, as he cautiously approached the house, the bellowing angry yells of his old man were hard to miss._

_He had no idea why or what the reasons were that had brought his father to a state where he cared more about the whiskey bottle than his farm or the wellbeing of his family. But the drunken outbursts were coming with increasing regularity lately and in his mind he could already see his father pulling out his belt to 'teach' his son to follow instructions._

_The boy swallowed hard. This was obviously not a good time to come home. _

"_He'll do it after dinner." Now closer to the backdoor he could hear his mother's attempts to soothe her husband's mood. __The loud smack when his father hit her for daring to object to his decisions and her soft painful groan that followed made the boy wince. _

"Why did she object again? She knows better than to provoke this old _hun dan_."

_With a deep sigh he opened the backdoor and stepped inside. It was better to make it quick and less painful, rather than wait and let his mother take beating; or his younger brother for that matter. _

_He didn't want Mattie to step in again, brave but stupid little twerp that he was._

_A bitter half-smile crossed the boy's face as he stepped inside. Mattie had gotten his share of his father's fulminations too, although the older boy and his mother tried their best to shield him from the father's outbursts._

"_What's it this time?" the dry and provoking tone of the boy's question made the elder man whirl around. _

"_Told ya to muck out the stables!" he hissed._

_Carefully __the boy glanced over to his mother and found her bleeding from a cut on her forehead. He turned back to the drunken foul smelling ass he called father._

" _Cuz yer too shitfaced to do it yaself?" __He spat despite the fact that he knew it would make the situation even worse. However, seing his mother injured made something snap inside of him._

_The hit came out of nowhere and even though __he should have expected it, it caught him by surprise. __He never would have guessed that his father was this quick in his drunken state. The boy stumbled backwards over a chair and his head cracked on a nearby cardboard. He fell to the floor and coiled up as his father started to kick him with the steel cap of his boot. _

"_Pa!" The reproachful little voice of his younger brother made him stiffen with fear. _

'Would he ever learn when to stay away? This was not the time for bravery.'

_The boy remembered that his father had hit Mattie hard with his fist and he recalled the painful wail of his younger brother, but the turmoil that followed remained a red blur of rage and pain and screaming._

_The next thing he __clearly remembered was that he had a bloody knife in his hand; his father was lying on the floor with a dark red stain on his shirt and his mother was urging him to leave._

"_Is he dead?" _

_The boy's voice wavered between fear and hope as he looked down to his mother who knelt next to her unmoving husband. _

"_Dunno. He's a tough bastard." His mother stood up again and rushed her boy to his room. "Go, pack your thin's. You'd best be outta here 'fore he wakes up again. This time it won't be just the belt." _

_She looked at him gravely. _

"_This time he'll kill you."_

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Thoughtfully he chewed the rest of the apple and let the core casually drop into some passenger's bag.

Maybe it hadn't been the wisest things he'd done, attacking his father, but nonetheless he was certain to do it all over again if he needed to. He glanced back over the shoulder and muttered a curse. While he had pondered over things he couldn't alter anymore the guards had caught up and were on his tail again, plowing their way through the crowd.

His head still turned the boy sped up but he didn't make it very far. With a force that knocked the wind out of his lungs, he ran into something - someone - and fell flat on his bottom. Glancing back and forth between his pursuers and the person he bumped into, he tried to get back onto his feet again; instead a large hand grabbed him by the collar and hauled him up.

Cursing silently about his own heedlessness the boy recognized the man who held him by the collar as the thug he'd stolen the MRE-pack from. This man was as big as a tree, tall enough that - as he held him by the scruff of his neck- the boy's feet couldn't reach the floor anymore. There was a menacing look in his cold blue eyes; it was a glare that made the boy shiver involuntarily.

This was bad, very bad.

With his feet dangling about several inches above the floor there was no chance to escape his miserable situation. The boy kicked, snarled and threw punches, but the thug held him at arm's length, so every one of the boy's wild attempts to get free blew out inefficiently.

"Lemme go!"

The giant scowled at the boy and shook him like a noncompliant puppy.

"Shut it, _làngdànghàn_!" he growled darkly, but the youngster didn't listen and fought even harder. Seeing the ship employee's approach, the big man shook the boy so hard, he could hear his teeth rattle: "Shut it, I say!"

Slightly dazed he reluctantly obeyed. He was let down slowly although the thug kept a firm grip on the collar of his captive's shirt as he turned to the two men that had finally reached them.

"What's the matter, gentlemen?"

"It seems we have ourselves a stowaway. We wanted to check his name with the passenger's list but he ran." the younger one of the guards panted while he still tried to catch his breath from the chase. "Thank you for stopping this little _hùnzhàng ._"

The hulk thought for a moment, then growled again and slapped the boy with the free hand on the back of his head.

"Ya skipped check-in again?"

The teenagers's face screwed up in disgust, as if there had been a foul smell wafting from the man's mouth.

"_This fella weren't from the Rim, was probably a Core sissy, as he was far too polite to the others and he used polite terms such as "gentlemen" and "sir". Gorram ass probably said things like 'thank you' and 'please' as well". _

But he weren't a fancy _hun dan_, certainly not a snob with his head up his own _pigu_. So the boy was confused as to why he was now laying on a thick heavy Rim accent, much like his own. Unable to make any sense of the huge man's strange behaviour and change in accent, he snarled again and continued struggling against the big man's hold.

Unfazed by his captive's clamor the giant man turned to the older employee with an apologetic smile: "He does tha' all the time. Runt thinks it's some kinda of gorram sport. Ya know how boys are."

The elder guard lifted a suspicious eyebrow: "So I understand that he's with you? He's not on the list. I'll have to see his ticket."

"Of course, sir, I understan'." the big man looked at the boy who instantly stopped his struggle. "Ya got yer ticket, boy?"

Deciding that it would be safer to play along with the thug's game for now and figure out what he was up to later, the boy shook his head slowly.

"Nah." he admitted hoarsely.

"Ya lost it? Again?" A dark growl accompanied another slap on the boy's head.

The kid looked as if he was about to retaliate, his mouth opened to let loose a particularly vile cuss for the assault, but it clamped shut when he heard another deep threatening growl. He swallowed loudly and whispered a sheepish "_sorry_" instead.

"If he has no ticket and is not on the list, you'll have to pay for his passage again."

For a split second, a killer look crossed the big man's face and it didn't go unnoticed by the boy. He had obviously exchanged one trouble for an even bigger one. Great!

"Ya not gonna kill me, are ya?" The boy's face winced with horror as his voice cracked.

"_Damned voice breakin'! Makes ya sound like a sissy girl an' that's the last gorram thin' ya need!" _

His would-be savior quirked an eyebrow while he counted the credits to pay for the boy's passage.

"No. Not now." he answered casually, but the scary grin on the man's face did nothing to convince the boy that he really wouldn't.

Money was handed over to the employee -plus some extra 'for the trouble'- and the guard stowed it away with a nod, before he left with his partner, probably to harass some more passengers.

When they were out of earshot the man turned to the boy again.

"Right now, from here on, you're going to pay me back." The man's voice returned to his normal and less Rim inflicted accent. "Every single credit, or else I might reconsider the 'Not-Killing."

The boy couldn't decide whether the older man was joking or not staye and stayed cautious.

"How am I supposed t' pay ya back when I dint have the money t' pay fer passage in the first place?" he asked carefully.

"Oh, I'll figure something out, believe me."

"What kinda somethin'?" Franticly the kid tried to think of a way out of his new problem. Finally released from the big man's grip he took a step back and eyed him suspiciously. "Ya some kind of ruttin' perv?"

"No more of a perv than anybody else."

Grabbing the boy's arm again, the older one dragged the surprised boy back to where he left his belongings. There he settled himself against the ship's side and mentioned his indignant companion to join him.

"Just call me 'Colonel' ," the older one offered, "now sit your ass down!"

Assuming to be in advantage as the elder man sat on the floor, the boy turned again on his heels and started to run. However he'd underestimated the big man's swiftness. With an unexpected grace the Colonel rushed forward and grabbed the fleeing boy by his ankle.

Though the loud thud as the boy hit the floor made some people look at the unlikely pair no one bothered to ask what was going on.

"I told you to sit, not run, _xiãozi_, so sit!" the man said dryly and mentioned at the space next to him. "Besides, where do you want to go? Are you that desperate that you would jump out into the black?" and after a short sideglance, he added "Your nose is bleeding."

The boy scrambled onto all fours and crawled back to the empty space next to his apprehender. He sniffled and wiped his nose with the back of his hand, pensively examining the red smear.

"Had worse." he murmured and wordlessly took the handkerchief the Colonel handed him.

"If you say so. But I think you still have something that belongs to me." The big man leaned over and pulled the boy's shirt out of his pants. The boy stopped to dab his nose and he stiffened.

"_Bùxu pèng, gõuniáng yãng de_!" Not caring about his high pitched voice this time, he kicked at the Colonel and backed away from the elder. "_Jijiãn chùsheng_!"

Reproachful the bigger man held up the MRE-pack the boy had held hidden under his shirt.

"_Honi soit qui mal y pense_"

„Screw _pants_! Ya stay the hell outta mine!" The boy yelled, his face creased and squashed up as he frowned with angry confusion. "An' I don't care if'ya puttin' it inta fancy Core speak! Freak!"

"It means '_Let he who thinks ill there be shamed_'. " The elder explained calmly.

Muttering the teen hastily tucked his shirt back into his pants "I ain't the one who couldn't keep his hand ta himself!"

The Colonel's guffaw roared through the passenger's deck.

"Don't flatter yourself. You're not that pretty. I was just retrieving what was mine anyhow."

When the boy sat down again, carefully keeping some distance, the older man opened the MRE, offering some to the still suspicious boy. "You hungry?"

Stubbornly the boy refused his offer, despite the audible growling of his stomach, and the big man shrugged before he started eating himself. "Suit yourself. So… you got name, _xiãozi_?"

He got no answer. Chewing on something that looked like beef jerky, the Colonel turned to the silent boy.

"Look, if I wanted to harm you, I'd have done so before those idiot guards came anywhere near you. I noticed your thieving. You're not as deft as you think you are, but I wanted to see what you intended to do afterwards."

The boy leaned back against the wall and put on a bored face to hide his fear.

"And? What _is_ my big plan then, wise ass?" he mocked.

The Colonel thoughtfully retrieved another _something_ from the MRE-pack and considered its edibility for a while before he slowly unwrapped it. He smirked as the rustle of the foil made the boy's stomach growl covetously.

"Plan? You have no plan." He stated as he took a large bite from the protein bar he was holding. He continued chewing for a while before adding "You're just an ordinary runaway, an insignificant little thief and not a very skillful one at that. I reckon you haven't had to steal often before."

A quick glance to the side showed him that the boy had closed his eyes, his breathing had quickened and his skin was pale.

"Okay, enough of this _fèihuà_! " The Colonel pulled another protein bar from the MRE and shoved it into the boy's hand. "You'll eat this. _Dãngchãng_! I don't fancy carrying your trifling unconscious ass when we hit ground. _Dong ma_?

A small nod and a sigh told the Colonel that the boy finally complied.

With a relieved moan the boy wolfed down the protein bar until the Colonel warned him to slow down.

"You carry on eating that quickly and it's likely to come back up faster than you shoveled it down."

The boy shrugged, swallowed the last bit of the protein bar and looked wistful at the remains of the MRE-pack. With a low chuckle the Colonel took the package and shoved it over to the boy who instantly savaged the rest.

"So, what about your name? You got one, right?"

Gauging whether to tell the Colonel, what he wanted to know or not, the boy chewed and swallowed slowly and then exhaled deeply. What harm could it possibly do now?

"Jayne."

The Colonel's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"It ain't a ruttin' girl's name!" Jayne exclaimed angrily.

"I'm not saying it is!" the elder man smirked, holding his hands up in defense. "Is there anything else, or is it just _Jayne_?"

"Jayne Cobb" muttered the boy reluctantly.

The Colonel grinned.

"Nice to meet you, Jayne Cobb."

He got no answer. Jayne didn't shake his offered hand or even give him a second look. So during the next two hours, until the ferry arrived at her destination point, they both sat in silence and remained deep in thought. One of them was thinking about what to do with the little ruffian sitting next to him, the other was making plans for an escape in the crowd as soon as they landed.

When they finally hit the docks, the Colonel made sure that Jayne got his few belongings from where he'd been hiding. It turned out to be only a small bag so the elder ordered Jayne to carry one of his bags, too.

"Never too early to start paying back your debts." he said as Jayne scowled and complained under his breath about the additional load heaped upon him.

Jayne shouldered the bags and started to head out of the ship and into the milling crowd. Huffing the Colonel quickened up his pace as he realized that Jayne was – again – trying to get away and –again- with things that weren't his own.

It didn't take him long to catch up with the boy and he dropped a big restraining paw onto Jayne's shoulder.

"Where do you think you're going?"

With an irritated growl and a muttered curse, Jayne rolled his eyes and stopped in his tracks to turn around and face his inexorable fate. The Colonel shook his head slightly in disbelief over the boy's stubbornness.

"Do you know what they say about someone who tries to con the same man more than once, Jayne?" he asked the boy as they started to walk again.

With the smuggest smile the Colonel had ever seen on a boy that age, Jayne replied: "He's courageous?"

The elder had to draw in some calming breath until he was able to muster his dry reply

"No, he's a _shãdàn_ ."

Jayne made a depreciative noise. "_We'll see who's the shãdãn in the end, old man. You ain't seen anything of Jayne Cobb yet._"

Keeping his thoughts to himself he followed the Colonel down the docks to what was seemed to be the center of this settlement.

"Okay, so where we goin'?" he asked.

"There's this little establishment - "_La Rose Dorée_" - where I work."

"A whorehouse? Shiny!"

A hint of interest began to glow in Jayne's eyes. Although his former encounters with members of the opposite sex had not gone further than some quick groping and the inevitable slap in the face he had received afterwards, Jayne knew that with the whores "help" he would learn very quickly and that was something he was really looking forward to. Moreover, with the right motivation he was sure he could be very charming and persuasive to the 'ladies'.

"Figured you'd like that." The Colonel smirked at the far off glaze in Jayne's eyes and the dopy grin on his face. "Well this 'whorehouse' will be your future work place, too. You will…"

Jayne's face dropped in horror, as he was brutally torn out of his delightful daydreams. He stopped dead in his tracks.

"I sure as hell ain't workin' as a gorram man-whore! _Juébù_!"

The Colonel stopped as well.

"Y'know what, Jayne, there's a lot of things you'll have to learn," he said sternly. "First: You'll have to let people finish their sentences before you get upset. Second: I tend the bar in this establishment and so will you. You're too young to become a man-whore anyway. Beside the "_Rose Dorée_" doesn't serve women. You'll be helping me with the drinks and every other joe-job that'll come up. "

The boy relaxed visibly, though he showed a pouting frown.

"I'm 16. That's not too young." he grumbled.

The Colonel smirked: "You're not 16."

Jayne surrendered.

"But I almost am, " he assured the still doubtful Colonel. "Joe-jobs, huh? Yup, I think I can do this." The smirk returned and now widened to an open grin that lit up the boy's face. "I can be quite handy to the girls."

The Colonel grinned too, spotting the twitching movement of Jayne's fingers and the way his tongue licked his lips. "That's what you think. You'll keep your hands to yourself, because you will have to learn to crawl before you can walk."

"Oh, I can walk." Jayne grinned smugly, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Ha-ha, you'd think. I reckon that you don't even know how to crawl." the elder teased.

"Ya wanna bet on that?"

"You've never slept with a woman in your whole short little life, Jayne Cobb! And don't try to tell me otherwise. I can see it in your face" the Colonel stated bluntly.

Jayne grumbled something under his breath and then looked to the elder almost entreatingly.

"You ain't tellin' the girls, are ya?"

"No need to…" the Colonel chuckled, "they'll find out on their own. They're whores, they're not stupid."

Jayne pouted and grumbled some more before he turned to the still amused Colonel with a hopeful expression "But they are pretty, right?"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

_Bùxu pèng, gõuniáng yãng de!_ - Hands off, you sonofabitch/bastard.

_Dãngchãng_ - Here and Now!

_dineng de ren_ - imbecile

_Dong ma?_ - Got it?

_fèihuà_ - rubbish/bullshit

_gãisì de_ - darned

_hun dan / hùnzhàng_ - Son of a bitch

_Jijiãn chùsheng_! - Perverted pig!

_Juébù!_ - Never!

_làngdànghàn_ - prowler/gadabout

_pigu_ - ass

_Shãdàn_ - moron

_xiãozi _- boy


End file.
